Transfer of one or more minute portions of the image seen by a large telescope to a remotely located and separate fixed piece of optical equipment for detailed analysis or reproduction is often desirable. For example, stars or satellites which form only a small part of the image appearing in the focal surface of a large scale telescope require isolated viewing for purposes of reproduction or detailed scientific study. To accomplish the transfer of selected portions of images from the focal surface of a telescope to remote fixed viewing areas is especially difficult since the objects to be viewed are often moving relative to the field of view of a telescope. This difficulty is compounded even more since the focal surface of large telescopes is spherical or nearly spherical in shape.
Other than his invention Applicant is aware of one other method of transferring images from the focal surface of a telescope to a fixed viewing area. This method entails a mirror for each quadrant of the focal surface. The mirrors cover the entire surface of their individual quadrants. These mirrors are used to reflect the image to a detector off to the side of the telescope. This method encounrters problems of selection of the area to be viewed, aiming the mirrors in addition to maintaining proper distances to the detector for adequate focusing. This last problem arises because each point on the mirror is at a different reflecting distance from the detector and correcting mechanisms for this problem are extremely complicated.
The present invention provides a system which overcomes the foregoing mentioned problems.